~ Further Adventures in Parenting and Eating

Monthly Archives: June 2011

We had our big ceremony for the kids last night and I rolled in the door at 11:30.

The kids were terrific and lots of fun was had but an early staff meeting this morning has left me pretty much exhausted and to be honest-more than a bit cranky.

This (ironically) is the first day that the babes hasn’t been put out by my leaving her at the sitter and even though she didn’t cry-I certainly did.

However, now my thoughts are going to seriously turn to happy summer activities. Being my usual Type A self I even made a list.

So far I want to:1) have a big movie night outside for everyone in the neighbourhood and ignore the build2) go strawberry picking (luckily the season is late this year)3) hang-out with friends and not have to worry about what isn’t done4) have my mom to my place for the babes to spend time with her in a safe environment5) tie dye shirts with my God kids again6) go to the library a lot7) go camping8) have tea parties outside with my wee one9) go for long walks

Here’s a pretty and on-the-spot app that I tend to have a big jar of in the fridge. It’s simple and with a tiny bit of prep you can have this as a go to for weeks.

I first had a version of this in a restaurant near Oxford. My group of school friends would go to a place called “The Trout” whenever possible for a bevvie or two. We had a spot that we liked to sit beside their little waterfall and watch the resident peacocks walk back and forth on the stone wall.

For a girl from suburban Toronto this place seemed as far from reality as possible. I went back a few years ago with my husband on our anniversary and the magic was still there.

I can’t guarantee peacocks will appear if you eat these olives but you can pretend if you have an extra glass of something sparkly.

If you serve them with chunks of cheese, a bit of salami and really nice bread you’ve got a great summer snack.

You can eat these warm if you can’t wait for them to cool to room temp. That delayed gratification thing is highy over-rated 🙂

This recipe makes 2 cups but I usually double it.

In a pan gently warm; 1/2 cup of olive oil (don’t use the REALLY good stuff) and add a cup each of green and black olives (not ones already packed in oil) and 2 garlic cloves (slivered).

Decide what seasonings you would like, my favourite is herbes de provene (1 T.) and 1/2 tsp of hot pepper flakes. You can change it up with dried basil or thyme or oregano or a mixture of all of them just make up 1 T.

Add the zest of an orange and the zest of a lemon. Finish with a splash of balsamic and heat for 2 minutes.

I wanted to spruce things up elsewhere. The construction rubble had migrated into the pergola and onto the deck.

Not pleaseant.

At least my grapes had gotten trimmed 🙂

We had some furniture out but it was hardly an oasis. We’re still looking for the outdoor version of a sectional sofa at a price point that doesn’t make us cringe but that doesn’t mean that we can have a version of a lounge under the gazebo.

I took my old steamer chairs out of the garage and spruced them with some new pillows (can’t get enough of that damask). Added a funky steel chair from inside and a few pillows. A step stool that a neighbour was getting rid of (love the yellow) and a pink wicker couch for the baby.

Under the pergola went our existing patio furniture, cover the airconditioner (waiting to be installed when the other side of the house is built) with a nice cloth, matching cloth for the table, a lantern, my pretty window and…it’ll do until we get our build done.

Not using this space this summer would be too much like buying a dress two sizes too small and thinking that someday you’ll lose lots of weight.

And now for something to drink while we lounge 🙂

I was reading “A Beach Cottage” and saw a picture of something wonderous. The start of homemade limoncello. She’s going to post a recipe in the next little while but I just couldn’t wait. Make sure you check-out Sarah’s, I’m a novice at this and she’s had actually success.

I was transported back to my teenage years and being invited to a friend’s house for dinner. They were/are a large Italian family and as such the food was exquisite for start to end. We had home cured prosciutto, homemade pasta and to finish everything creamy, gelatto with limoncello over the top. It was one of those evenings where you sit in the back yard and life is revealed to be VERY, VERY good.

I’ve had this dessert since but only enjoyed it as much once ﻿and that was when I was in Italy and the lemons came off of the tree in the front yard. The trick has got to be having both fantastic company and the limoncello being homemade.

I asked around at work and a colleague very graciously gave me her Nona’s recipe. In two months, limoncello will be mine (insert maniacal laughter here).

Take 7 lemons that have been scrubbed and cut off just the rind (don’t get the pith-it’ll be bitter). Stick it into a jar (I just reused my vodka bottle) and top with 750 ml. of vodka. Let sit in a dark place. I used a glass marker to write down the date on the bottle as I have no hope EVER of remembering when I did this.

Ding!

The two month timer goes off and now you need to make a sugar syrup. 2 cups of sugar with 2 cups of water. Boil until thickened slightly. Cool completely. Add to the vodka and let sit another month. Strain off the liqueur and store in the freezer ready for gellato or really good vanilla icecream OR straight (but only for medicinal purposes).

But what about all those lemons?

I just couldn’t bear the thought of throwing out all of that lemony goodness so I decided to make a quick lemon and ginger syrup (the ginger was an idea that I read off a link from Beach cottage-I’m so sorry but I can’t find the link now but I didn’t want you to think that I had come up with this on my own).

Take equal parts sugar (I used 3 cups) and water. Add in 7 lemons (from the recipe above) that have been halved and a piece of ginger about 2 inches X 2 inches. Bring to a boil and let bubble away until a lemon coloured syrup is formed and you can smell the ginger (about 5 minutes).

Strain into a jar when cool. Let this cool for two reasons 1) you will badly burn yourself with syrup if you don’t-you just will and 2) more lemon flavour goes into the syrup if you let it steep (like a cup of tea).

For your glass of lemonade: Mix 1/4 cup of the syrup to 3/4 cups of water (I like bubbly water with this). Serve with a porcetta sandwich and you are good to garden for hours. Wear a hat. 🙂

I made that yummy risotto the other day and aimed for leftovers just for this recipe.

I first had this wonderful appetizer at my sister’s wedding. She had it catered by a great Italian company that specialized in homestyle cooking-their food was unbelievable (that is really something for a lot of weddings) but it was their starters that wowed even more than the rest.

My favourite (to the tune of six of them-not wise in a tight bridesmaid dress) were the aracini. Aracini are fried balls of risotto usually stuffed with chunks of cheese.

It was the start of my love affair with these litte beauties but even more so, the start of a marriage to really admire.

Let’s face-it, I had you at fried didn’t I?

They freeze quite well and can just be reheated in the oven. I usually don’t have many left though. They tend to be eaten as they come out of the frypan.

Bread crumbs and egg wash.

Take a heaping Tablespoon of leftover risotto and flatten it. Place a piece of mozzarella (about 1 cm X 1cm) and then form it into a ball.

Drop into the eggwash and then into the breadcrumbs.

Fry in a shallow skillet with a 1/4 inch of very hot oil in it (I used canola-don’t use olive oil, it’s smoking point is just too low).

Fry until lightly browned.

Drain on a kitchen towel.

Eat while hot. I love to serve a bit of marinara sauce to dip them into on the side.